Llodra triumphs in Adelaide
| Adelaide, AAP, 6 January 2008 - Frenchman Michael Llodra notched his second ATP tour title with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Finnish third seed Jarkko Nieminen in the last Adelaide International final at Memorial Drive today |
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Hewitt exits, smokin' Joe continues
| Top seed Lleyton Hewitt insisted he was still on course for a fruitful summer despite crashing out in the Adelaide International quarter-finals at Memorial Drive tonight. |
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Aussie eye final four
There are just eight players remaining on day five of the Next Generation Adelaide International and two of them are Aussies.
Lleyton Hewitt leads the Australian charge for the title at the last staging of the Adelaide ATP tournament but there’s another Aussie guy who resembles Hewitt in the determination department right alongside him in the quarterfinals; his name is Joseph Sirianni.
Their paths to the last eight were vastly different. Hewitt has produced two near flawless displays, while Sirianni had to win a play-off event just to get into the main draw. Once he got there, he had the edge over fifth seed Radek Stepanek in the first round before Stepanek was forced to retire mid-way through the second.
Facing the much higher ranked Sam Querrey in the second round, Sirianni lost the first set but fought back to deliver an inspiring 6-7(5) 6-2 6-3 win.
Hewitt and Sirianni now both face opponents with truckloads of talent. Hewitt faces Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while Sirianni clashes with another Frenchman, Paul-Henri Mathieu. Hewitt and Tsonga have only met once before but, worryingly for Hewitt fans, Tsonga was the victor and it was on grass at an event Hewitt has won four times: Queen’s.
Sirianni faces arguably the biggest challenge of his career against Mathieu. The world No.25 has new coach, seven-time grand slam champion Mats Wilander, in tow and is one of the most dangerous players on the tour. In 2007 he defeated the likes of top five players Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez.
But Sirianni has had plenty of matches in the past month and if he’s ever a chance to win, now is the time. In the evening’s other quarterfinals Jarkko Nieminen faces American Vince Spadea, while German Benjamin Becker takes on Frenchman Michael Llodra.
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Hewitt breezes into quarterfinals
| 3 January 2008: Top seed Lleyton Hewitt breezed into the quarterfinals of the Next Generation Adelaide International tonight.
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Day three preview: Hewitt's tough assignment
| It’s a case of one down, four to go for South Australian superstar Lleyton Hewitt. |
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Guccione squanders lead
| 2 January 2008: Chris Guccione squandered a one set lead over second seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu to drop out of the Adelaide International at Memorial Drive tonight.
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Joe's joyride continues
| Melburnian Joseph Sirianni has advanced to his first ATP quarterfinal after another upset win at the Next Generation Adelaide International today.
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Day two preview: big day for Victorian contenders
| Two Victorians – one, a big-serving up-and-comer, the other a 32 year old with a fighting spirit second to none – headline play on day three of the Next Generation Adelaide International. |
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Hewitt sails into second round
| Top seed Lleyton Hewitt has sailed into the second round of the Next Generation Adelaide International with a convincing first-up win over Israel’s Dudi Sela. |
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Day two preview: Hewitt's time arrives
| 1 January 2008: Back in 1998 a little known kid by the name of Lleyton Hewitt won his first ATP title here at Memorial Drive. Ten years on the world No.21 is chasing his 27th career title. |
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Sirianni reaches second round
| December 31, 2007 - Australian wildcard Joseph Sirianni continued his red-hot December form today overcoming fifth seed Radek Stepanek at the Next Generation Adelaide International. |
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Jones moves into qualifying final round
| December 30, 2007 - Australian Alun Jones has progressed to the final round of qualifying at the Next Generation Adelaide International. |
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Hewitt handed tough draw
| Lleyton Hewitt faces a tough task to win the Next Generation Adelaide International after being drawn alongside a handful of dangerous opponents. |
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Sirianni wins wildcard play-off
| Victorian Joseph Sirianni has earned a wildcard into the main draw of the Next Generation Adelaide International after winning the wildcard play-off final today. |
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Wildcard for Smeets
| 27 December 2007: Queenslander Robert Smeets has been awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the Next Generation Adelaide International. |
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Jones to head wildcard play-off
| December 23, 2007: Alun Jones will head the field in an eight-player wildcard play-off at the Next Generation Adelaide International. |
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Adelaide boasts world-class field
| Six of the world’s top 30 players, including world No.8 Richard Gasquet of France, will feature at the 2008 Next Generation Adelaide International, tournament organisers announced today. |
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Gasquet set to star in Adelaide
October 30, 2007 - One of the ATP circuit's most exciting players - Frenchman Richard Gasquet - has been confirmed for the 2008 Next Generation Adelaide International. More
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Hewitt signs for '08
August 22, 2007 - Former world No.1 and two-time Grand Slam singles champion Lleyton Hewitt has confirmed he will play in the last Next Generation Adelaide International in 2008. More
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Djokovic edges Guccione for title
| 7 January - The youngest player in the world’s top 20, Novak Djokovic , won his third career title and ended the winning streak of Australian Chris Guccione at the Next Generation Adelaide International. |
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Adelaide to merge with Brisbane in '09
| 7 July - Tennis Australia is to develop a new stop on the Road to the Australian Open with the announcement today of plans for a combined men’s and women’s event leading into the Australian Open from 2009 onwards. |
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